The game of golf involves hitting a golf ball with a hand-held piece of equipment specific to the sport. After several shots, the golf ball is hit into a hole that measures 4.25″ in diameter. This process is completed with a piece of equipment called a putter. The process itself is called putting. For any person who plays the sport of golf, learning to putt better is vital to improving one's game. Putting comprises around 40% of the total shots an avid golfer may hit in an 18-hole round of golf. The ability to properly execute a putting stroke requires much training. Throughout the course of an 18-hole round of golf the majority of the putts a golfer will strike will not be on perfectly flat ground. This means the ball will not always move towards the hole, on the ground surface called the putting green, in a straight line. The ability to putt a ball that moves from left to right, right to left, or straight are all very important skills that a golfer must practice in order to improve their overall golf game.
Putting training aids have been on the market for a considerable amount of time and are used by a great multitude of golfers. They are often used for training to develop a sound, consistent putting stroke and develop confidence so that the player can perform well on the golf course.
The majority of putting training aids on the market are designed with a golf hole cut into a thicker than flat material. Some of them have raised edges that are flexible, or open on one side to allow a golf ball to travel into the cup and remain in there when contacting an edge. These devices are designed to provide a realistic putting experience to the user off the golf course, in the home, office or other place. Nearly every putting training device on the market is designed for the user to strike a putt that moves straight.
The idea of a practice putting device that allows the golfer to putt a ball that breaks, or moves in a line not straight, while allowing the end user to also practice putts that do move straight is far more practical, because during the course of a round of golf the player will encounter putts that are straight, putts that move left to right, and putts that move right to left.
A putting training aid that enables the golfer to practice putts that break left to right, right to left and that are straight is a far better practice tool than a device that only allows a golfer to practice straight putting.
The market has some affordable, simple, easy to use and innovative golf mats, and cups. The market is sorely lacking a golf cup training aid that has a simple design, is inexpensive to obtain, and easy to use which allows the golfer to practice striking putts that break. The market is specifically lacking a device to assist golfers in practicing putts that move right to left, left to right and putts that go straight that is extremely simple, inexpensive and easy to use.
U.S. patent Ser. No. 10/762,692, granted to Daley, discloses a putting cup apparatus designed to more accurately reproduce a regulation putting cup.
U.S. patent Ser. No. 08/296,681, granted to Schindler, discloses a device that can be used for putting practice that has upward curved outer walls that receive a golf ball into a cup that resembles a regulation golf hole
U.S. patent Ser. No. 11/269,472 discloses a ramp shaped practice putting apparatus designed to help with a golfer's putting speed. Said disclosure is a rectangular platform that is designed for assisting a practicing golfer in striking a putt that goes in a straight line to the golf hole.
The market has fallen short in producing a simple, inexpensive, exemplary designed golf putting training device that allows the end user to practice hitting putts that break, and putts that move straight.